Google asks court for clarification over Java API ruling that could affect the global software industry
Google has written to the Supreme Court asking for clarification over last year’s software APIs copyright ruling. The company has used a legal mechanism called ‘certiorari‘, a process for seeking judicial review.
Google has been locked in a dispute with Oracle over the internet giant’s use of Java APIs in the Dalvik process virtual machine, which used to be part of Android and which enabled apps to be executed on the platform.
Oracle claimed that the Java APIs, which it acquired when it purchased Sun Microsystems in 2010, are an integral part of the Java intellectual property that it now owns. Google counter-claimed that APIs cannot and should not be subject to copyright, and that its use of the Java APIs and documentation for Dalvik were covered under ‘fair use‘.
